Meet 26 of the hottest UK startups about to become household names as part of Tech City UK’s Future Fifty February 22, 2017 An innovative flower delivery startup, an online money transfer service and a recipe subscription service are among 26 of the hottest startups in the UK which have been identified as having the potential to become household names and globally recognised companies. Bloom & Wild, Azimo and Gousto are among the up-and-coming names joining the likes of fintech unicorn [...]
Wall Street rally continues as US stocks reach fresh record highs February 21, 2017 US stocks hit new record highs off the back of strong earnings from retail giants Wal-Mart and Home Depot, as well as optimism over the economic plans of President Donald Trump. Wal-Mart's shares increased more than any other in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, rising 3 per cent after it reported higher-than-expected US sales. Home Depot shares gained [...]
London’s Tory MPs band together to battle business rate plans February 21, 2017 London's Tory MPs are banding together to propose reforms to business rates as the pressure builds on chancellor Philip Hammond. Wimbledon MP Stephen Hammond told City A.M. that MPs were reflecting the fact that capital business faces some of the steepest increases in the country. “The pressure is building at a time when it's very difficult [...]
In full: The letter Sadiq Khan sent to chancellor Philip Hammond on business rates February 21, 2017 London mayor Sadiq Khan has joined forces with a host of business groups to write to chancellor Philip Hammond, warning him about how business rate changes will hit the capital. Business rates changes will come into effect on 1 April, and the new taxes are tied to rents across the UK. As rents have jumped [...]
Transferwise now lets you transfer money just by talking to a Facebook Messenger chatbot February 21, 2017 Forget simply messaging friends, now you can use Facebook Messenger to transfer money with the latest chatbot wanting to take care of your finances. London fintech unicorn Transferwise is bringing its online money transfer service to the messaging app, allowing users in the UK to send money to friends or family in the rest of Europe, [...]
Business rates fight intensifies as government accused of misleading MPs February 20, 2017 The row over business rates is heating up with businesses hitting back at the government's claim that they will receive a tax cut. The government has retaliated at the business groups that are demanding reform to business rates, saying that three in four businesses will receive a rates cut, or won't be affected. Read more: The business rates backlash [...]
Government mulls handing watchdog more powers over struggling pension schemes, but experts warn suggestions not enough to prevent another BHS-style fiasco February 20, 2017 The government is considering handing the pensions watchdog more powers to regulate struggling or badly governed pension schemes. The Department for Work and Pensions' green paper on 'Security and Sustainability in Defined Benefit Pension Schemes', which was published today, is asking for feedback on a variety of pension issues. These include whether to extend the Pension [...]
The business rates backlash continues… this time Sainsbury’s speaks out February 19, 2017 Sainsbury's is the latest company to raise its voice amid growing concern over the impending rise in business rates which will see thousands of businesses with a bigger bill. The supermarket's chief executive Mike Coupe slammed the levy as "archaic" and called for reforms to "level the playing field with firms such as Amazon which [...]
These are the seven deadly sins of the workplace February 17, 2017 Perhaps it was inevitable that someone would try to rebrand the seven deadly sins. After all, it’s 1,700 years since monk Evagrius Ponticus came up with the eight evil thoughts generally credited with the concept. These were whittled down to seven by Pope Gregory I in AD590 – vainglory was the one to go. Now [...]
Kraft Heinz bid for Unilever adds flavour to London’s end-of-week trading February 17, 2017 Food firm Unilever propped up the FTSE 100 after US competitor Kraft Heinz made a huge $143bn (£115bn) merger offer for the London-listed firm to inject some energy to trading at the end of the week. Unilever’s share price popped by 13.43 per cent as it briefly reached an all-time record high on the news, [...]